Warriors from blood
by Prime's sparkling
Summary: Cobra's at it again, and this time he would do anything to not allow his plans to fail. Even if it included the murder of innocent people. So when teenagers Parker and Nova are sucked into the mess for an unknown reason, how do they survive and keep their secrets from those around them?
1. Chapter 1

AN: hey everyone here's a new one I'm trying out. I might take a while to upload because of school and other activitys. and also depending on how much you enjoy it. Before we start I would like to thank my awesome beta for helping me with this. Cheetara7 you rock!

Some guids to understanding the story:

**Writing like this means they a talking in sign language**

"Writing like this means they are talking normaly"

_Thoughts_

* * *

**CHAPTER I**

**BY PRIMESSPARKLING**

* * *

_"When to the heart of man_

_Was it ever less than treason_

_To go with the drift of things,_

_To yield with a grace to reason,_

_And accept the end_

_Of a love or a season?"_

_ Robert Frost, Reluctance_

* * *

Storm Shadow dropped down from the roof, landing with ease in the eerie silence as he pulled out a pair of katanas from where they hung on his back. He scampered across the wall, feet silent and popped open the nearest window that was shadowed from the moon. Slipping inside, he smiled behind the mask he wore as the starved darkness from inside swallowed him in one jump. Silently navigating his way through the room, he carefully avoided the furniture and crouched once he reached the door which separated the house from the sleeping rooms, where in his mission lie. Narrowing his eyes, Shadow Storm pulled out a pick set and started on the lock…

* * *

_Spring heeled, Jack missed London,_ Parker's young eyes scanned over the words effortlessly as he held the torch slightly higher to lighten the words from where he laid under the sheets, _He missed its rooftops and its towers and…_  
Sighing softly, he slowly closed his reading book and turned off his torch. Stretching, he tiredly pulled off the bed sheet covering him and glanced at the clock which lay next to the reptarium cage on the desk. It was 3 am, later than he usually went to bed, but in the end he really didn't care. Deciding that he wanted something to drink before dosing off, Parker made his way out of his room and towards the kitchen. Only to stop as he realized the door his father had previously locked that evening to be wide open. Shaking his head, the boy walked ahead, assuming one of the other family members had also gone to the kitchen. But when he arrived, an empty space met him.  
Alarmed, Parker quickly swung around and ran back to the rooms, darting into his sister's instead of his own. Nova laid beneath the sheets upon her bed, her soft red hair spread smoothly over her shoulders and pillow. Her fingers were curled under her chin moving forward and back as she breathed. And as much as Parker didn't want to disturb her, he knew that they were in danger. Gently shaking her, she woke quickly, raven colored eyes sharp and ready for action. Blinking she raised her hands to sign to him.  
**'What's wrong?'** She asked warily as he quickly grabbed her out of the bed.  
**'Someone's broken into the house,'** he signed back and her eyes widened before she grabbed her personal sling bag and cautiously followed him into his own room, where he grabbed his own and slipped on his hearing aids.  
**'What now?'** Nova asked.  
**'We get out of here,'** he replied determined and led her over to the window.  
**'What about mum and dad?'** She asked and he paused from where he was busy and turned to fully face her.  
**'I'll go after them,'** he nodded for her to move towards the window, **'You get out of here.'**  
Nova nodded and with a single, desperate glance at her brother she slipped out the window and into the darkness and slight chill of the outside. Once sure that his sister was safely out of the way, Parker turned around and quickly made his way to his parents room at the end of the passage, where the door was hanging wide open.  
Stepping cautiously he came into the room and felt his blood freeze. His mother laid on the bed stiffly, her neck twisted at an odd angle, his father next to her, chest still heaving with life as he slept unaware of the figure leaning over him with a blade resting mere inches from his chest. And before Parker could have made any warnings, like every moment in horror movies and books, he could only stand frozen as the fictional characters he had once laughed at and mocked as the blade came shooting down into his father's heart. A tear of sadness ran down his cheeks and Parker felt the cold, icy fingers of fear tauntingly crawl down his spine as the figure raised his head and spotted him in the doorway. Finding the courage to move, he suddenly found himself running for his life towards his room. He locked his door in the assassins face and turned towards the window, finding five weapons of unknown make pointing directly at him. Parker froze and raised his hands into the air in surrender, hearing the assassin attempting to break down the door behind him. Sighing in defeat, he sadly gazed down at the family album on the shelf and kept his gaze there as he felt one of the masked soldiers head to unlock the door behind him while another pulled out a pair of cuffs. He allowed them to near and just as the strange man's hand touched the lock on the door, he acted. Swiftly he threw himself backwards onto the soldier behind him, pinning the man against the door. He kicked out to the side, hitting the one with the cuffs directly in the gut, and put enough force behind the kick to toss him into the remaining three. The one against the door suddenly went still and limp and with horror he realized why as he risked a look behind him and saw the tip of a blade sticking out of the man's back, directly on the spine. Growling, Parker turned back to the remaining three, catching the unseen fist full on in the face. He fell backwards, fortunately not onto the unlucky soldier and knocked his head against the counter. He felt a warm liquid that he knew was blood dribble into his eyes and blind him slightly. Parker was startled out of the beating in his head by the gloved hand which picked him up by the throat. Survival instincts kicked in and he quickly shot his legs up and wrapped them around his attacker's head. Throwing his weight forward, he used the soldiers surprise against him and twisted his legs and body around within a matter of seconds, taking the head his legs were wrapped around with him in a direction he knew no man would survive. He flipped around, grabbing the body as it fell and used his strength to throw it into the nearest man to him. He kicked the remaining two with a split kick in the head and used the push to propel himself out of the open window.

Parker picked himself off the grass and ran in a drunken zigzag away from the house. He wiped the blood out of his eyes with his pajama sleeve as he did, and as soon as his vision cleared, he fell to the floor as his sister sprang on him and saved his life from the laser like fire coming from the men climbing out the house. Looking back, they saw the assassin follow and head into their direction purposefully and silent. Thinking quickly, they sprang to their feet and the two teens ran in the opposite direction. They jumped onto a neighbor's fence, hearing the heavy foot falls of boots and quickly pulled them over the top, landing with two distinctly loud thumps. Nova pulled her brother along as soon as she was on her feet, seeing the assassin scaling the fence and ran over to the next yard through a gate. Her brother stumbled behind her, tripping over mole holes and the uneven ground blindly as she dragged him along in a despite attempt to get away from what was either a kidnapping or a murder. They skidded around the second house, and Nova felt herself cry out in pain as she felt something ebb itself into her shoulder. Not paying attention to where she was going her foot hooked into the pavement and she stumbled, taking her double-sighted sibling along with the twisting wave effect of the fall. This time it was Parker who drunkenly pulled her up and led her into the street, as the assassin came around the bend, the footfalls of the soldiers not far behind.

Barely watching everything around them, they ran up the street seeing one of the military patrol cars which came through the civilian side of the base each day. Their hope lit up they ran past just as the four unidentified soldiers stepped onto the street. The two stumbled as they fired the strange laser EMP blasts again, but this time managed to stop their falls and continued to run. Ancient sirens that usually served no purpose crackled to life in a unified, ear splattering scream; waking peaceful residents and alerting the main base and any passing soldiers to the attack ahead. US soldiers readily dressed and guns in hand fled the safety of their homes to aid the failing soldiers and protect their families.

Parker and Nova didn't stop running, and rather used the commotion to escape into the base through one of the main entrances, just as armed jeeps tore through the path. Quietly they ran over to one of the storage hangers and quickly located the nearest motorcycle they could find. Parker allowed Nova to help him swing himself onto a Kawasaki M1030 motorcycle. It was a trial version model and was out dated but it did not bother Parker as he leaned in the darkness and felt for the ignition where the keys where kept. He sensed his sister shuffle near him cautiously, before she was suddenly ripped away. Panic striking him with a dead aim, he peered into the stillness while his hands franticly felt through the darkness.

Meanwhile Nova struggled against the hands that held her, and immediately held her breath as a sickly smelling cloth was pulled over her nose and mouth, burning her eyes. She ripped her elbow back and stuck her attacker in the side, pulling her arms over his head backwards like she remembered her father teaching her. Her hands met a mask and she immediately pulled on it, hearing the man growl as she tugged hard enough to pull out some of his hair. He swung her around, like a drunk, in an attempt to get her to breath in surprise and she used it to her advantage as she leaned as far out of his hold as possible and swung her leg backwards. She was rewarded with a satisfying pained grunt as her bare foot hit its target between his legs. Feeling the man was distracted she pulled his arms away by the thumbs, bending them in such a way that if he did not comply, they would be broken. Nova twisted out of his arms and sent a spinning back kick his way, but the strike never reached as she man simply caught her foot and twisted. She screamed and threw his mask at him, before hitting him in the solar-plexus, forcing him to let go. She felt him look at her but the feeling faded away as the roar of a starting engine met their ears. The man jumped away as Parker rammed the motorcycle into him and the headlights caught sight a young, but adult Japanese face, before it disappeared into the darkness from the blow. Nova quickly sprang onto the bike as her brother shifted backwards to allow her a front seat, being in no condition to drive himself. Sending a silent thank you to whatever God was out there that the ankle by the pedal was not the twisted one, she felt Parker wrap his arms around her waist and leaned his head tiredly against her shoulder as she tore out of the hanger and headed to the entrance of the base. She went around the boom and speed up as she saw the man running for them. Gunning it, she tore down the road and zigzagged her way through town until they lost sight of their opponent.

Sighing as she brought the bike to a stop, Nova turned her bare head over to her brother who had not moved much of the ride. He gazed up at her tiredly, an expression she could not quite place burning across his face in a fiery blaze. It was one of anger and sadness and horror combined.  
**'What now?'** She signed tiredly, not even taking the effort to make her signs neat.  
**'We'll head to the old warehouses,'** his reply was hesitant and sloppy, showing how much the night's events had affected him**, 'We can hide there for the time being.'  
'Ok,'** she sighed slightly and started up the motorcycle, suddenly feeling drained as though she had not slept at all. As the adrenalin from the fighting slowly wore off, Nova became aware of the injuries she had sustained and she gunned the motorcycle down to the large building on the outskirts of town where they had played and enjoyed themselves as small children pretending to be characters from different movies while their parents were away from base. With a start she realized that she had forgotten about them during the race for their lives and with that on her mind, she pulled into the old building and drew to a halt.  
Parker sluggishly pulled himself off the motorbike and locked the door, letting his backpack drop to the floor. He felt along the wall for the control board and quickly flipped on the lights to the place. The warehouse was large, and judging by the layer of dust that covered the furnishings, had obviously not been used for a long time. It had once stored old gym equipment for a private school many years earlier, but the school had been forced to close down and the bank and government had forgotten about the school's biggest investment for equipment. It suited their needs perfectly and Parker painfully trekked his way passed the old boxing ring and over to the wall where a bunk bed was nailed into the wall. He sat down; mind plagued by the events of the evening and did not notice Nova walking up to him until her young fingers touched his shoulder.  
**'Parker?'** She asked when he looked up softly, eyes gazing worriedly.  
**'Yeah?'** He tiredly shifted over on the bunk for her and allowed her to sit, dropping her sling bag alongside the bed.  
**'Where are mum and dad?'** She asked and Parker suddenly felt himself tearing up.  
**'They're gone,'** a tear dropped down his cheek and his lips quivered in sadness.  
**'What do you mean they're gone? Did they get out before the attack?'** She asked again. When he didn't respond she shook her hands in front of his face to get his attention, **'Parker?'  
'They're dead Nova,'** he signed softly feeling more tears go down his face.  
**'Dead?'** The girl searched her brother's face for signs of deceit and a hopeful confusion crossed her face.  
**'They're dead. That assassin killed them. I saw it,'** he replied and he watched the tears slowly come down her face as it morphed into a look of loss that matched his own. Parker wrapped his arms around her frail form and could only offer and take comfort when she curled into the hold and cried into his bloodied shirt, joining him as they mourned for the loved ones and the life they had lost.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hey everyone, I got another chapter for you. I would like to once again thank my awesome beta Cheetara7 for helping my with this story :) . So here you go.

KEY: **'Writing like this means sign language is being used'**

_Writing like this means thoughts and/ or memories_

_ "Writing like this means speaking"_

* * *

CHAPTER II  
BY PRIME'S SPARKLING

"I wondered through each chartered street,  
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,  
A mark on every face I meet,  
Marks of weakness, marks of woe"  
William Blake, London

* * *

Nova's eyes fluttered open softly as the rays of sunshine heavenly cast its self over her cooled and wounded skin. She wondered for a moment where she was, before the memories of the previous evening returned to plague her once more and she curled miserably into the warm wall she was resting against. Her parents were dead, unfairly taken away from her in a matter of moments and the consequences of the nightmare were finally hitting her with a fist to the gut now that she did not have the distractions around her to blind her thoughts. She no longer had a mother who fussed over her about this or that and taught her how to cook and helped her with her homework after long hours of school. She no longer had a father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding, and to scare away any of the boys she brought home or comfort her when her pet died. Nova felt her eyes burn and mist over, but she had no tears left to cry.

Wanting to take her mind off of her distraught thoughts, she looked around, finding that the wall of warmth she had lent against had a subtle, but smoothing heartbeat. Looking up, she found her brother's sleeping face looking peaceful even through the blood which had poured from his head wound. They had both cried themselves to sleep the previous evening and even now stayed in the same position with her leaning against his chest and his arms around her as he leaned against the wall.

Sighing softly, Nova looked around the familiar warehouse as she gently detangled herself from Parker's grip and stiffly laid him down onto the bed. She stretched, grimacing at the pop which sounded from her shoulder and the throbbing pain in her ankle which she had forgotten about. Silently making her way with a limp past the boxing ring, she opened a wooden chest and pulled out some of the medical supplies. Nova slowly patched her wounds up using the mirror on the wall as a reference and grimaced at the sight. Deep scratches could be seen though the tears in her pajama pants from where she had tripped over the fence and fallen across the pavement, her knuckles and sides were bloody, and her ankle had turned an ugly purple green color. Her hair was a mess and she grimaced as she quickly grabbed her back pack and made her way over to a doorway where showers were located. The water was heavenly and she slowly felt her muscles ease under the hot water as she scrubbed away at the dirt and blood.

By the time Nova had cleaned herself up and she entered the hall to see Parker patching his own wounds as he leaned against the boxing ring. He looked up when she entered and offered her a sad but relieved smile, she returned it as she put down her bag and helped him clean his wounds.

**'You okay?**' He signed to her and she sighed deeply before putting down her cloth.

**'Honestly, I don't know.' **She glanced timidly towards the door**, 'What are we going to do?'  
**  
**'We'll have to find one of our relatives,'** his gaze turned cautious, **'but the only one who would have the finances to take us in would be Uncle Hawk.'**

'But we haven't seen him since we were like five or six years old,'

Nova argued angrily, **'And how are we meant to find him, last dad heard of him was like five years ago in Afghanistan.'  
**  
**'I don't know, you're the computer genius you tell me,'** he replied with a somewhat smug expression on his face.

**'Well he is in the military…'** Nova drew off as she reached into her bag and pulled out a silver laptop, **'if I can get into his profile and get an e-mail address, we can send him a message.'  
**  
**'You're going to hack into the military network?'** He asked, but he did not look surprised, if anything one would think he was expecting it.

**'You got a better idea?'** She signed back with a raised brow.

**'Nope,'** he smiled and ran a hand through his hair boyishly, a stark contrast to what his mood really was, **'hack away.'  
**  
**'Will do,'** she smiled back before setting to work to find their uncle….

* * *

Down, beneath the ground in a structure which lay many miles away from the two kids, Breaker sat at his post in the communications center and worked feverously at the computer as code ran across the screen. He'd had a busy day since the announcement of the attack on a special ops military base earlier in the morning and had yet to discover what reasons Cobra had for his show of aggression. He looked up when general Hawk entered the room, barely stopping with his work as the man neared him.

"Tell me you have something Breaker," he ordered coming to a stop behind the techie.

"Yes sir," Breaker quickly opened the file he had saved earlier and scrolled through its contents, before sending the file to the computer, "We have confirmations that Cobra was behind the attack on the base."

"What were they after?" Hawk asked as she looked through the printed documents.

"Unknown," Breaker replied tiredly, "But one of their goals was a planned assassination done by Storm-shadow, Snake-eyes confirmed the murder style after the evidence came through."  
"Who were the victims?" Hawk asked handing Cover-girl the notes to fill away.

"A Sergeant Conner Lenore and his wife Major Jennet Lenore," Breaker replied, not noticing his commandeering chief freeze up behind him as he displayed their military files on the large screen at the end of the room, "Both were marine, special ops."

When no other questions came, Breaker turned around to see that Hawk was still frozen to the spot, an emotion he did not recognize flashing through dark eyes.

"Sir?" Breaker asked warily watching the man clench his hands into fists.

"And the kids?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Last seen running into base," Breaker's reply was instant and he quickly had their pictures up on the screen as well, "Looked to also be a murder attempt; MPs found blood marks one of the kids' rooms and in a military hanger."

"What were they doing in the hanger?" Hawk asked sharply and Breaker almost jumped at the tone.

"Unknown, sir," the Moroccan man glanced up to his commander, "The hanger was used for vehicle storage, they properly ran in there to hide, but were gone by the time the MPs got there."

"Breaker?" Hawk looked down at him tiredly.

"Yes sir?"

"Find those kids, and fast," he ordered and turned on his heel and headed towards the door as she Moroccan man turned in shock.

"Sir," he asked and the man stopped at the door way.

"Yes Breaker?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Why must we focus on the kids?" he asked, not expecting an answer.

"Because the major that was murdered was my sister," he replied and then was gone.

General Hawk quickly returned to his office and locked the door. He crossed over to his desk and heavy settled down into his chair with his hands on his face. He tiredly dragged his face down and glanced up at the screen when it beeped, indicating a new email. It had no address and he automatically became suspicious as he scanned it for viruses before opening it.

**Dear General Hawk  
Our names are Nova and Parker Lenore, daughter and son to Sergeant Conner Lenore and Major Jennet Lenore. We don't know if you remember us, but we really need your help. You're at the moment the only family member that isn't too sick or financially insecure to take us in. if you plan to turn us away, can you at the very least get us to safety. Our parents are dead, killed by an assassin dressed in white, who plans to kidnap us for unknown reasons, we don't know who he works for but he had some tough back up who injured us both. We are safe for the moment but for how long is unknown. This is why we need your help. We will be in touch.  
Regards  
your niece and nephew  
Parker and Nova Lenore**

General Hawk read over the report once more before he jumped out of his desk as the alarms went off indicating a network hack. He ran down to the communications room where Breaker was feverously typing at the computer and demanded to know what was going on.

"Someone hacked into our network," Breaker yelled over the alarm as the rest of the Joes entered the room.

"Who?" Heavy duty asked and Breaker drastic lay shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know," he growled out, "But whoever it is, they're good. The system hack occurred over 10 minutes ago."

"Why didn't our security network pick up the attack?" Hawk demanded angrily.

"Again I don't know," The Moroccan man briefly paused in his work to run a hand through his hair, "I can't even get a location on the Hack. When I do the I.P address keeps on changing."

"Do you know what they were after?" Scarlet asked coming to stand behind him, crossing her arms as she looked down at the screens."

"It doesn't look like they stole any information. They did however open one of the Joe's files," Breaker replied tiredly.

"Whose?" General Hawk asked wearily.

Breaker turned halfway to look at his commanding officer, "Yours sir."


	3. Chapter 3

_**AU: Hey! so here's a new chapter for all you readers out there. Enjoy and please Review.**_

_**KEY:**_

**'Sign language'**

"normal talking"

_'Thoughts'_

_flashbacks_

* * *

_**CHAPTER III**_

_**BY PRIME'S SPARKLING**_

"Revenge may be wicked, but it's natural."  
― William Makepeace Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_

* * *

While loss was not something Parker had been open to much in his young life, it did not mean he had not seen it in others. He'd plenty of times watched his parents comfurt each other after they had come home from missions where comrades had been lost when they thought he had been asleep. He'd often spoken to the other kids whom had lost their own folks and he had not always understood why they could not just grieve and move on, but now he had first-hand experience on the subject. Now things were different and not for the better. He felt like screaming and hitting anything he could see at the unfairness of it all, but he refused to give into his body's demands as he gazed over at his sister who sat hunched over her computer, typing away like there was no tomorrow. He knew how vulnerable she was after the attack, she had been closer to their parents than him. It had always been so. She was the lovable geek, he was her protector and he knew he couldn't allow himself to break when she needed him to be her rock.

Sighing, Parker gave the punching bag in front of him a last jab and kick before he walked over to Nova in silence. He sat down next to her looking over the numbers and intense code she'd typed into the program she was creating. She gazed up at him through tired eyes and he gave her unhurt shoulder an affectionate squeeze before signing to her.

'**Any ideas on where to go?' **He asked warily, eyes scanning the picture on her screensaver. In it, a seven year old Nova sat upon his nine year old self's shoulders hanging onto a branch in the mountainous terrain. On either side of them stood their parents smiling proudly at the camera. He remembered the day it had been taken, as they had been on vacation in the Californian mountains and he and Nova had dwindled from the campsite thinking of the adventure they were going on. They had gotten lost and had been forced to take shelter in some caves from the storm that had broken loose. Their parents had found them the next day of course, given them a smack on the rear each and then taken them for ice cream. Parker smiled as the memory came through and shook this head to clear his thoughts before turning his gaze back to Nova,** 'We can't stay here for too long.'**

'**I know,' **Nova signed back to him looking about as lost as he was, '**That ninja that was after us won't be stopped this easily. We pretty much gave him a map to get here when we simply came here without making sure we covered or tracks.'**

Parker nodded, '**So where do we go?'**

'**We'll stay here for tonight and tomorrow we'll see if we can't get a hold of Uncle Hawk and find a place to meet,'** She said shrugging her shoulders before looking him in the eyes, '**that's the idea I've got.'**

'**Well I've got none, so we'll do it,' **Parker signed nodding his head, **'but we'll need some supplies.'**

Nova nodded shutting down her laptop and packed it away before swinging her bags onto her shoulders and hobbling over to the bike, followed by Parker.

'**How much money do you have?' **She asked glancing at him as he sat down behind her on the bike.

'**Enough for what we need,' **he signed into her back and smirked, '**good thing pops taught us how to drive.'**

'**You still can't drive to save your life,' **she snorted and giggled when he playfully poked her in the side.

'**Hey! I'm a pro at it in GTA,' **He signed with a smile.

'**No you're not,' **Nova started up the bike silently with a secret laugh, '**All you do is summon a fricken chopper in the middle of the highway and cause destruction with its rocket launchers.'**

And with that said, they peeled out of the hanger, Parker's hoarse sounding laugh drowned out by the roar of the engine…

* * *

General Hawk pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, feeling the headache of the day sneaking up to them. He gazed back up at the young cadet standing before him before hardening his gaze.

"So let me get this straight," he said sternly, "you decided, despite the fact that we have a crisis on our hands, to take out one of our available aircrafts out on a joy ride and crash-landed it when no-one opened the main doors for you?"

"Yes sir," the soldier stood to attention, an arrogant look on his face as he looked around them, "It's their fault for not opening the damn thing."

"No Crosswire," General Hawk curled his hands into fists, "there is no body here to blame, but yourself."

"But sir," Crosswise frowned.

"You had no authorization to take flight," he slammed his hands onto the desk, "What you did was a code 7 offence. Because of you all operations are on standstill until all the debris is safely cleared from entrance one. You're lucky nobody got hurt."

"What, is this now about that mission to save those damn kids?" Crosswise yelled going into dangerous territory, "Well I say who gives a damn! There's plenty of kids out there, let Cobra take them."

"I don't have time to deal with this," He pushed the bell on his desk and nodded as the messenger soldier stepped in, "Sergeant."

"Yes sir," the unnamed Joe saluted and relaxed after the commanders ok.

"Take corporal Crosswise here to solitary," Hawk commanded, "he can stay there until the missing kids have been retrieved."

"What!" Crosswise shrieked, his eyes turning icy in fury.

"Yes sir," the soldier grabbed the corporal by the arm and began to guide him out the room. The man offered resistance before he gave in and allowed the messenger to drag him out. Genral Hawk sat in his seat and placed his hands over his face before he gazed over to the picture on his desk of himself and his sister, who stood holding two babies in her arms.

"Just hang in there kids," He whispered to himself, "we'll find you, and keep you safe."

He continued to think about his family until a knock on the door brought him out of his reverie. Hawk looked up and turned hopefully when he saw Duke standing in the doorway, "Yes Duke?"

"General Hawk," Duke saluted his commanding officer and relaxed at his commanding officer's nod.

"What is it?" Hawk ran a tired hand down his face.

"We think we may have finally located a general area of where the kids may be," Duke said having to run after his commander who quickly made his way to the control room, "Lookout patrol spotted Viper forces heading towards a town close by to where the attack occurred. Intel believes they're going for another kidnapping attempt."

"Not on my watch," General Hawk growled before heading over to one of the desks and grabbing the intercom systems microphone, "All Joes, attention all Joes. This is Hawk, grab whatever you can and get that door cleared completely by the end of the next hour. Alpha team gear up."

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time, Parker and Nova had reached the small town outside of their old home. They had long since pulled on hats and a pair of sunglasses each to shield their identities and were quickly making their way through the aisles in a shop. The two had not bought much, simply some extra pairs of clothes and food for a few days, and payed for them in cash. Making their way silently back towards the motor cycle, Nova felt something freezing crawl up the back of her neck and stopped dead in her tracks. Dropping the bags she carried, she grabbed onto Parker's shirt and yanked him backwards.

'**What?' **He asked as he reached down to pick up what he had dropped when she had grabbed him. She signed him something and his face paled before he grabbed her hand and tugged her back to the motorcycle, leaving their purchases on the ground. He started up the bike this time and tore out of the parking lot with Nova clinging onto him like a koala bear. Nova opened her mouth in a silent scream as her brother nearly drove them off the road. Behind them they became aware of the sounds of flying engines and choppers.

Flooring it, Parker ripped through uneven roads, wincing when cobble stones swept up and hit the bare flesh on his legs that were not covered by his shorts. He felt Nova's arms tighten around his waist, the only outward sign of her pain as they hit her as well. Up ahead, he noticed a lone set of train tracks they had come over on their way to town and sped up when the bell began to ring for an oncoming train. He pushed the bike to its max, to get away and let a small sigh of relief pass his lips as the bike reached the other side of the railway tracks. They skidded to a stop and the two minors looked up at the hovering ship just as one of the doors opened and a familiar figure jumped out. The white clothed assassin dropped with a roll onto the ground and glared up straight at them.

Nova gulped and pinched Parker's side to force him to wake up and the elder boy spun the bike around in a sweep of dust and charged down the other side. The assassin gave chase, pulling out a pair of shuriken as he did. He threw three of them, the fist missing completely, the second scratching Parker across the ear and the forth hitting its target on the back wheel. The bike slid out of control, both siblings screaming in fear as they were thrown from it. Nova landed hard onto the dirt road, opening her injuries once more, while Parker crashed into a tree in the small forest they had driven into. He dropped to the ground unconscious and did not move further…

* * *

Stormshadow smirked behind his mask as he gazed around at the mess he'd created, not believing how easy this job had been, and silently pulled out a needle. Sure they had managed to get away from him the first time, using the attack as a distraction, but that had been a minor setback. He wasn't worried about the boy and decided that the child could die for all he cared, his mission was to bring in at least one of them anyway. Sighing he made his way over to the girl as he heard the ship land behind him and hastily crouched at her side. She was battered and bruised from the fall and previous injuries but still breathing and he smiled as he reached down. Behind him some of the Viper troops ran out to secure the perimeter and he grabbed the girl's arm.

* * *

Nova woke to ear splitting pain. It was all over her body, like someone had taken a vegetable peeler to her skin. Inwardly she groaned weakly when somebody grabbed her arm just as her memories came rushing back. Parker! Parker was hurt. She forced her eyes open ad wished she hadn't when she saw the familiar eyes of the man who had tried to grab them the day before. The man picked her up into his arms and started moving her towards the ship where she saw a bald man waiting among the Viper soldiers at the door way. Wanting something else to look at as the tears filled her eyes, she gazed out to the side before she began to fighting her attacker's grip when she suddenly saw Parker's body lying to the side. The white ninja that held her tightened his grip to keep her in place and some of the Vipers stepped forward to lend a hand. She struggled more and thanked whatever god was out there for her short body as she managed to shimmy out of his grasp, although she had a feeling that he let her go as to not hurt her further. She raced to the other side and fell to her brother's side, tears streaming down her face. She shook him and tried to make him wake up, before the sound of laughter met her ears. Looking up, she saw the bold man guff at her pain and felt a mixture of anger and fear rise up in her as the white ninja from before closed in on her. She closed her eyes and leaned over her brother, hearing him groan in protest as she did and waited for the inevitable. '_This is it', _she thought, '_They're going to take us where no-one can find us and kill us.'_ Feeling desperate, she sent a prayer to any god that happened to be watching to spare them and let out a sigh of relief when she heard a gunshot and saw the bullet dig itself into the ground where the ninja had been about to step. Twisting her head to the side, she regretted it as it sent her sight on a spinning rollercoaster. In the back ground, she was aware of more shots being fired coming from multiple directions and orders being yelled out from both sides. Her eye sight slowly clearing, Nova noticed the white blur that was the ninja running towards them. Alarm spread through her and she tightened her grip on her brother, covering her head with her free arm and closed her eyes. Until she heard the sound of metal on metal. Opening them, the first thing she saw was the black ninja with the visor blocking the white ninja's attack with a long sword.

"Long time no see brother," the white ninja said tauntingly, pressing on his blade to push the other one away. His eyes flashed briefly to Nova who had yet to move before resting again on his opponent's visor, "I'd like to stay and chat, but I have a play date to attend."

Nova got a sickening feeling in her throat and tried to stand, pulling a still unconscious but moaning Parker with her. The white ninja moved to intercept her but was stopped by the black one who swung his blade expertly at his head.

"Have it your way then brother," the white one said as she slowly dragged her brother though the trees. Only later on, when she wasn't on the run, Nova would realize that the Black ninja had not spoken once during the entire confrontation. She pulled her brother as far away from the battle as she could, tripping often in the dense lush of nature over her unsteady feet and wheezing as she stood back up. Her lungs burned like someone had started a fire that refused to go out and her body stung like the pits of hell. Exhausted, she pulled Parker's heavy weight into the nearest thicket she could find and settled herself behind him to support his back. Tears formed in her eyes as she pulled the bushes closed and sunk her head into the back of Parker's shoulder weeping as she for the battle to finish.

* * *

Duke ran up to Ripcord silently as he cocked his gun. He was still tense from the battle even after StormShadow and Desrow had called a retreat for unknown reasons. He saw Scarlet limp over to them with Heavyduty's help and turned to look at SnakeEyes who was sheathing his swords onto his back.

"Where's the kids?" He asked and all of them looked around expectantly.

"Don't know," Scarlet replied solemnly as Ripcord took her from HeavyDuty, "They ran off after SnakeEyes and StormShadow battled it out."

Duke looked at the ninja tensely, "Can you track them?"

He nodded back silently and disappeared into the forest, rolling his eyes as his comm. Link beeped.

"Guys what is going on out there?" Breaker asked over the piece and Duke sighed.

"Had a run in with Cobra but we only have two confirmed causlties but," HeavyDuty kneeled next to Scarlet and quickly patched up the bleeding spot on her leg where she'd been hit in the fray .

"And the packages?" Breaker sighed softly.

"Unknown," Scarlet hissed as HeavyDuty applied anesthetic to her leg and grit her teeth, "Ran off when we distracted Cobra's men. SnakeEyes' is tracking them."

"And their status?" Commander Hawk asked in Breaker's place over the radio.

"Unknown," Duke replied tensely, "They're injured though, judging from the blood marks found where the boy had been."

"Find them" Hawk barked angrily all five of them nodded.

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Nova held onto Parker like a life line as she strained her ears though the silence. The gun fires had stopped as quickly as it had begun and had left the surroundings more quiet than a frozen woodland in the middle of nowhere. Tears of fear ran down her cheeks and she shuffled her satchel so that her laptop to did not dig into her side, being careful not to make too much noise.

She did not know how long they had sat in the darkness of the thicket, but to Nova it had felt like an eternity. Sadly she gazed down at her brother in the dim light, just making out the blood that ran from the side of his head and the unnatural angle of his right arm. She closed her eyes to clear her thoughts.

SNAP! Nova's eyes snapped open into a deer in headlights look and felt herself begin to hyperventilate as she adjusted her grip in Parker. He moaned, but remained unconscious and she slapped her hand over his mouth in horror. She held her breath and tensely counted the seconds that passed, praying that they would not be caught. When she heard nothing after a while she let it out and immediately regretted it when she heard the tell tale whish of a pair of swords being drawn. She tightened her grip on her brother as she heard the thicket being drawn apart slowly and she once more held her breath when she saw the crouched figure crawl closer, realizing it was the black clothed ninja from before. She tensed, feeling his eyes on her behind the visor and curled her hands into fists as he reached up and sheathed his Katanas. Confusion hit her then, making her momentary wonder why he had placed his weapons away if his intentions were to hurt them. She slowly let out the breath she was holding and watched with a tight grip on Parker as the ninja lowered his hands and began to sign to them expertly as though he'd been doing it for a long time.

'**Do not fear'** he said moving closer to them deliberately, **'You are safe now.'**

A stillness fell over them for a moment as Nova fearfully checked for signs of deceit from the unknown man, but she could make out none through the hardened visor he wore obscuring his eyes. Still feeling his eyes upon her, she forced herself to relax and loosened her fisted grip on her sibling enough to reply back to the ninja.

'**Who are you?'** Nova asked reluctantly and wary of him.

'**SnakeEyes,'** the man replied after a moment and Nova knew she had heard of that name before. Keeping her eyes on him she thought back through her memories, looking for where she had possibly seen it before. She thought of when she had hacked into the military network which had been harder than she cared to admit but not impossible, and remembered suddenly why it was so familiar. The name had been in the profile under a list of people in her uncle's command.

'**You're a Joe?'** she asked carefully, relief somewhat coming to her when he nodded to her. SnakeEyes tilted his head towards the outside and she glanced down at her brother worriedly from where he moaned in pain completely unaware of his surroundings, **'My brother…'**

SnakeEyes turned to look at Parker before he nodded and moved closer, ignoring her tense and wince at his close presence and gently lifted her brother away from her. The ninja withdrew from the thicket, holding him bridal style as though he weighed nothing in his arms, leaving Nova in the darkness to clear her thoughts. Deciding not to keep them waiting she pushed herself onto her stinging hands and knees, hearing her aching bones pop after sitting still for too long, and begrudgingly followed the Joe out of the bushes. The alarms in her head had stopped going off in her head and Nova felt that she could trust the stranger holding her brother against his chest. She felt safe around him and Nova had always trusted her instincts above all else save for maybe her brother. SnakeEyes nodded back and started the somewhat long trek back to where the battle had been, occasionally helping her up when she tripped over something…

* * *

Duke had always considered himself a somewhat patient person, but at that moment he really considered committing mental suicide to pass the time while they waited for word from SnakeEyes regarding the kids whereabouts. It sickened him that Cobra had swooped as low to threaten the lives two children and while having seen many horrors of war and having grown accustomed to death, he drew the line at kids. It was against his morals, soldier or not.

Sighing he shook his head to shake away his darker thoughts and gazed around at the team he had taken command of since the Paris incident over a year ago when Cobra had literally eaten the legendary Eiffel tower to pieces. Of course they had rebuilt the historic land mark but things had never been the same since. Duke looked over at Ripcord who stood leaning against an armored vehicle which had come carrying a G.I. Joe support team during the fray. The dark skinned man was talking softly with his girlfriend who sat upon the bonnet of the truck. Seeing his friend with Scarlet made him think back to his own girl who was waiting for him back in the research center back at base. The thought made his mood darken. They had not yet found a way to remove the nanobites which swam in Anna's blood stream or the blood streams of any of the other soldiers who had given themselves up freely during the attack on cobra's headquarters in the Artic not long after the assault in Paris. Each time they tried to force the nanos invading the bodies out, the person died as a result of a defense mechanism and the nanos would eat away at the corps, leaving no evidence. Duke shook his head wanting to chase away his darker thoughts and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to clear his thoughts.

"Something bothers me," HeavyDuty commented walking up behind them after having spoken to one of the cleanup teams. Duke turned to regard him silently and raised his eyebrows questioningly, "like why the bloody hell did Cobra and his posies pull out of that fight so fast?"

"I don't know HeavyDuty," Duke replied, keeping his voice soft, "but looks like they got what they wanted, whatever it is."

"I know," HeavyDuty sighed forelongingly and stared into the forest where SnakeEyes had disappeared into, "And that's what bothers me so bloody damn much. We already know it's got to do with the packages otherwise they wouldn't have gone after them."

"True," Duke nodded and crossed his arms, "Let's just hope we can get some answers when SnakeEyes finds them."

HeavyDuty agreed with him but said no further as figures appeared at the edge of the wilderness. Duke watched as well, eyes widening when he saw the condition of the boy in SnakeEyes' arms and the girl who stumbled over the uneven ground behind them. Shaking his head he lifted his fingers to his left ear and activated his communications link.

"Alphas to Command," he said feeling the girl's eyes on him, "We have the packages."

* * *

StormShadow smirked in victory as he held up the vial of blood he'd taken from the girl before she'd awoken. He knew he would have to track them down again at a later stage, but basked in his small victory he had attained. He had been surprised to see his brother in arms after so long, but decided that it simply made his mission more of a challenge after a moment. He was looking forward to a rematch after experiencing the near death state Snake eyes had put him into. And as he continued to gaze at the blood he agreed to his thoughts. A rematch was indeed in order.


End file.
